"What do you mean it didn't work?"

The redguard mage is too busy gaping at the dull black soul gem in his hands to properly hear my question. After three months of searching, I've finally found the one person able to cure my illness...and now I'm glowering at him in disbelief. Not only had he forced me to pay an outrageous price for the gem, he'd left it empty, forcing me to hunt for a human worthy of death and entrapment. So, one week after beheading a bandit, I was then dragged to a ruin at five thirty in the morning for...what again? Oh yes: a little fizzle, a strange tingle in my spine, and then...nothing!

The gods sure love to torture me.

"It should have worked," Falion says hollowly. "It...it has never failed before, I..."

His eyes finally shoot to mine, staring into the glowing orange irises encased by fiery red.

"What...are you, Thane of Morthal?"

"A blood sucking vampire," I growl, my upper lip curling to reveal glistening fangs. "We've already covered this."

"But then...why aren't you a normal boy again?"

"I'm not sure, I'm not the mage who dragged me out to the middle of a bog claiming to know what I was doing!"

I growl through my teeth. I've been a normal (albeit smarter) vampire for two hundred years, but the last fifty years had included a castle on a remote island, a snooty vampire lord, and a chunk of my throat ripped out to make room for more venom than even I could take. Upon waking I found that, instead of being healed as promised, I'm now worse off than I had been upon arrival.

And now it appears that Falion is screwing me over too.

"Now...now don't take this out on me!" the mage squeaks as I step towards him. "The arts I practice can be temperamental at times! You can't always expect perfection!"

"Really? Why didn't you mention that when we first met?"

"Would you have bought my gem, cleared Movarth's lair, and wiped out that bandit cave if I had told you the truth—"

I snap forward and grab him around the throat, ignoring my hood as it flies from my head. He shrieks when I slam him against the stone wall, five feet from where we had been, my eyes blazing in my pale face.

"Did you just admit to using me, Falion?" I snarl, a dangerous sneer on my face as the mage tries to claw my hand away. "I didn't know great mages like you were capable of such stupidity."

Falion's eyes are huge under his hood, obviously taking in the three scars splitting my lips and the lids of my right eye. Gifts from an old friend. My black hair is sticking to my neck and shoulders, but I ignore it.

"K-Khalid, please," Falion chokes out. "I swear to you, I-I really did try—"

"So why didn't it work?"

"I don't know—"

"Guess!"

"Something must be different about your affliction. Something that blocks the proper healing."

I have the sudden urge to drop the mage and travel to that little castle off Solitude. Slaughter the king over there, maybe his advisors too.

"There may have been some things taken away, but most of them appear to be there."

I don't realize I've released Falion until he's fixing the cloth around his throat.

"I...I am sorry, Khalid," He says quietly. "I wish I could help you—"

"Save it, Falion," I sigh. "I've heard this kind of thing before."

The mage shakes his head as I bite my lower lip. No reason to be upset. I've only traveled all the way to Skyrim to reach disappointment, again. What else is new?

"Is...there anything else I could..." Falion starts. He has a little girl named Agni he's cared for for ten years, so I can see his makeshift father senses tingling. I still looked sixteen, so that's probably messing with him.

"No, thank you," I say quietly. "I think I'll just pick up and go again."

"Are you sure?"

I nod, staring at the moss ridden stones.

"Please just go."

Falion reaches for me, but retracts. I lift my eyes enough to see him descend off the platform and disappear into the marsh. Only after I am sure he's gone do I allow myself to cave in and rest my elbows on my knees, my hands pressed over my cursed eyes. Why can't I find a cure? What about me is so important that I need to live for so long?

You're important, Khalalily. Whether you want to be or not. Make the most of it.

My throat tightens at the words that fill my head. Fine...I'll keep going. Maybe go somewhere else and become thane. Or just live out in the woods, that sounds nice. I can just stare up at the stars every night, wishing I could see the clouds and sun again.

I straighten, then turn around and start for one of the columns. My bag is barely visible in the lowlight of the sunrise. I freeze, then spin around and flinch at the bright light that pierces my vision. I try to duck behind the column but, low and behold, my feet trip over themselves and I slam my hip against the stones.

Damnit!

The sunlight creeps closer and closer as I struggle to pull myself away, pressing myself against the beam as the stream spreads across the rocks. It stops just as I go to cover my face, and I look up to see that the beam was curved enough to shade me. I sigh and look at the taunting light that snakes around to cover the rest of the bog. Looks like I won't be leaving anytime soon.

Falion's words suddenly come to mind as I sit there, and I find myself looking at my hand. If I had really lost some of my vampiric abilities, did that mean I'd lost some weaknesses too? My fingers twitch as I gaze at them, then I lean forward and slowly set my palm on the shaded slab. Cautiously I inch my hand along, until my fingertips were only a pin's length away from the sun, then shove my hand out, cringe in anticipation for the sting.

Nothing happens.

I look down at the back of my hand, wiggle my fingers, wait. But nothing sizzles, nothing crumbles into dust. It's just...warm.

I retract my hand and look towards the flaming orb peeking out at me, as if waiting to see what I will do now. I take an unnecessary breath in (vampires don't need to breath, but sometimes it's nice to take one) then close my eyes as I lean forward. I stop when my eyelids turn orange, twitching at the warmth that has just stroked my face. My eyes sneak open and a smile slips across my face. Looks like things won't be so bad after all.

I grab my pack and stand, edging into the sunrise like a rabbit from a hole. Maybe...maybe today is different. Maybe it will be the start of something better.

I get my answer when I reach the edge of the platform and slip. My legs fall out from under me and I slide down until my pants are in the mud and my coat is all the way up my back. I groan in pain.

Today will not be different from any other day.

Cyrodil: 186 Years Ago

"Khalid!"

I was almost shoved from the bridge railing I was perched on as someone threw their arms around me. I regained my balance and smiled at the white-blonde snuggling into the crook of my neck. Bright green eyes gleamed up at me mischievously; she was still wearing her tight raiment, the bright yellow taunting me, and the Amulet of Julianos I'd given her for her birthday. I brushed a clump of dirt from her pale cheek.

"Practicing Destruction magic again?" I asked. "What did you blow up this time?"

"Nothing important," Ianira assured me. "Just some rats, spriggans, and wolves. Oh, and maybe a food cart on the way in, but I ran before anyone saw me."

I laughed and shook my head, praying she wasn't serious, but knowing that she was.

"How long have you been sitting here, my Imperial knight?"

"Only an hour."

"And you haven't stumbled off yet?" she asked with a laugh. "Am I hugging the wrong Khal?"

I growled as she giggled in my ear. Even with all my Arena training, I could never get my feet to work properly. According to the Breton Warrior snuggling me, I'd tripped so often in combat that the yellow team thought I was faking to lure their teammates to their death. I wasn't about to tell them they were wrong, but I wished I could go through one match without falling flat on my face.

"Maybe it's your armor," Ianira was saying as she fiddled with the iron plates on my blue raiment. "Too bulky, especially for your build."

"It's better than going out with nothing but cloth to protect me," I said, reaching over and guiding her to sit on the railing with me. "You worry me when you run out in hide."

"You would be even more worried if I stumbled out in a tin suit," Ianira reasoned, shooting me a snooty smirk.

"They aren't that much heavier."

"No, I suppose not, but anyway, I've got my new ward and armor spells, so I may as well be wearing heavy armor when I go out."

I nodded, smirking as I recalled first time Ianira had tried the enhancing armor spell and ended up turning her skin blue. She'd been angry at me for laughing, but she'd looked so cute, I couldn't help it.

"So..." Ianira started cheekily, scooting closer and looping her arm through mine. "What's in the clouds today?"

The murky waters of Bravil were smelly and the houses were piled on top of each other, and the people living in the city weren't very friendly, but on that bridge we always found a way to get passed all that. The clouds were a big part of it; we always took a moment to just look up at them, predict our future, right before we took the journey to the Imperial City and the Arena.

"Hmm," I mumble, looking up at the sky. "Well, there's a minotaur, and a spider, possibly a castle being attacked by a dragon—"

"Khalid, there's only one cloud in the sky!" Ianira laughed.

"Fine, then what do you see in that cloud?"

She tilted her head and pursed her lips, even though we both knew what she would say. We'd danced this dance so many times our feet ached, but we loved every second of it.

"I see a boy, two or three years from now," she started. "With black hair sticking to his neck, and deep brown eyes. He's still scrawny, still kind of short, still clumsy—"

"Why?" I protested with a grimace.

"Because that's how I love him," Ianira said, shaking my arm with a teasing grin on her face. "And he's married to a pretty girl, with children that love him, a great house. They've even got enough room for his crazy uncle and her mother."

"Are you sure you want them with us?"

"Of course. Your uncle can watch the children and her mother can sew all their clothing."

"Will she have enough fabric for that?"

"She can make do."

I laughed and nestled my face in her hair as she stared at the billow, then closed her eyes with a content smile on her face.

"I like that cloud," I said.

"Good, because it's happening." she said. "Soon."

"How soon?"

"Like I said, two to three years from now. When you're sixteen and a man and I'm fifteen and sick of living here. We have to do it after I become Grand Champion and you buy our house in Cheydinhal. That way you're already used to cooking my meals and cleaning the house."

I laugh loudly and pinch her sides, not at all surprised by her arrogance. I'm not offended either though. I was only in the Arena as a Gladiator to bring septims in for me and my uncle. Ianira was in the Arena to be the best, to be spoken of in legends. She deserved it, for how hard she worked. We were careful to keep our relationship secret, going into fights on differing days to avoid being pitted against each other. But in my mind, if there was a time when we had to do battle, I'd fall on my dagger in a heartbeat.

"We should head out soon," Ianira laughed, shoving my hands away. "Your uncle is going to want to see you."

"Mm-Hmm," I mumbled, pressing my forehead to hers.

"We've kept him waiting long enough I think."

"Yes, we have."

"Khal!"

I whined and withdrew, swinging my legs over the railing and dropping back to the bridge. Ianira followed suit, then grabbed my hands. I leaned down so she could kiss my lips.

"Go get the carriage, I'll grab my stuff and tell my family we're leaving."

"Okay," I said as she gave my hands a squeeze and whisked away.

I watched her bounce down the bridge, humming a random tune, then turned to head back to the town. Unfortunately my ankles tangled together and I landed flat on my stomach, scraping my arms against pebbles.

At least I hadn't been sitting on the bridge when that happened. That would have made for a terrible, normal day.